Rug and carpet holder.



1". 11. SEWARD 1 G. W. 1111111110111 RUG- AND GARPET HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.26, 1910.

' 985,295, Patented Feb.28, 1911.

THE NORRIS PETERQ ca, WASHIINGYON. n. c.

UTTEED gTATEd RANT PETER.

FRANKLIN D. SEWABD, OF RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY, AND GEORGE W. RAYMOND, 0E NEVJ YORK, N. Y.

RUG AND CARPET HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Fatented Feb. 28, 1911.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANKLIN D. SEW- ARD and Greece VJ. RAYMOND, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, in Rutherford, Bergen county, and State of New Jersey, and in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rug and Carpetl'lolders, of which the following is a specification.

@ur improvements are designed to afford a simple but. effective device for retaining rugs, carpets &c., in position on floors or ther surfaces in such manner that all slack, stretch or looseness may be quickly and conveniently taken up and compensated for and the rug or carpet held taut and smooth under all conditions of use, substantially as hereinafter set forth.

The invention consists in the specific construction and arrangement of parts herein described and claimed, distinguishing features being a grip plate hinged to a base plate, and not only formed with prongs for grasping the underside of the carpet or rug but also with. one or more clip members which snap over and engage edges on the base plate in such manner as to hold the device closed and flat.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2, are isonietrical perspective views of a carpet rug holder cn'ibodyiug the essential features of our invention, said views representing the grip plate as raised at right angles to the base plate and being taken 'rom opposite sides of the device; Fig. 3,is an end elevation of the holder, the grip plate being partly raise-d; Fig. 4, an end elevation showing the grip plate closed upon the base plate; Figs. 5 and 6, are views similar to Figs. 3 and 4, illustrating the engagement of the grip plate with the under side of the carpet or rug; Figs. 7 and 8, are top views of the device closed, illustrating modifications in the form thereof.

Simplicity of construction and operation, are most desirable in a device for this purpose, as well as cheapness, to render it commercially successful. It must also be hidden. from view when in use as well as adapted to perform the function of a carpet or rug stretcher not only at the initial operation of laying the carpet or rug, but also subsequently in re-adjustment to take up slack arising from stretching or wear of material or other cause, and to this end the device must be easy of manipulation both in the opening and closing of its articulate-d parts. All these advantageous features we have attained by our special construction and arrangement of parts, consisting essentially of a base plate B of resilient sheet metal, adapted to be attached to a floor or other surface, and a grip plate G also of resilient sheet metal, swinging upon the base plate and formed with prongs s, s, for engagement with the texture of the underside of the rug or carpet, and also with clip members 0, 0, adapted to snap over and clasp the edge of the base plate B. This feature of the grip plate overlapping the base plate, and not only swinging thereon but being adapted to engage with and clasp the latter in the closed position is an essential and distinguishing feature of our invention and one of great practical impor- .tance.

It is obvious that the grip plate G, may be attached to the base plate B, by various mechanical expedients which will admit of its svinging thereon, and we do not restrict ourselves in this respect, although the use of a pintle a, passing through hinge knuckles L, 7), on the base plate B, and g, g, on the grip plate G, is in some respects a preferable means of attachment, and in any case clearly affords a prz-ictical application of our invention in this respect.

The number of prongs s, 8, used, and their length may be varied to suit the character and requirements of the rugs or carpets as may be found most expedient. Also, a plural number of clip members 0, is most desirable, but not absolutely essential, since a broad central clip member might be used as shown in Fig. 7, or a central one, and two end ones as shown in Fig. 8, or even a greater number if desired, without departing from the spirit and intent of our invention in this respect.

The base plate maybe screwed or tacked to the floor, it being preferably formed with holes 7],6, for this purpose, although it might obviously be attached to the supporting surface by screw heads or other equivalent devices overlapping the edges of the base plate B, with like result. In fact the base plate may be countersunk in the surface of the floor if desired, especially in the case of concrete floors, in which the base plate may be directly embedded.

It is to be understood that any desired number of these devices are provided to act in conjunction with each other, according to the size of the rug or carpet &c. In application the carpet or rug is stretched over and pressed down upon the grip plate Gr, when the latter is in a raised position, and the subsequent closing of the grip plate G, over and upon the base plate B, draws the rug or carpet taut, which condition is maintained by the interlocking of the grip plate G, and the base plate B, by means of the clip members 0,-the pull of the body of the carpet or rug tending to hold the superposed plates closed since the line of strain is parallel to the plates.

It will be seen that our construction and arrangement of parts afiords a holder which is simple, compact and strong and well adapted to the various requirements of use.

W hat we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

A device or" the character described, comprislng a base plate adapted to be secured to a supporting surface, and a pronged grip floor covering and attached to said base plate by means which admit of its swinging thereon, both plates being made of resilient sheet metal and one of said plates having a clip member formed in one piece therewith by striking up and bending inward a portion of the plate to adapt it to snap over and engage an edge formed on the other plate for engagement with said clip for the purpose of locking the two plates together to hold the floor covering taut, substantially in the manner described.

FRANKLIN D. SElVARD. GEORGE V. RAYMOND.

Witnesses:

JOHN J. LANGE, l/VM. S. SPALHOLZ.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

plate adapted to engage the underside of a 

